The manufacturers use a number of different technologies, such as standardised browsers or special widgets, but in every case the results are similar, making access to internet content as easy as it is to zap from one television station to another.

Israel Katz, the transport minister, announced this week that signs on all major roads in Israel, East Jerusalem and possibly parts of the West Bank would be "standardised", converting English and Arabic place names into straight transliterations of the Hebrew name.

The mayor's marketing adviser, Dan Ritterband, told the London assembly's budget committee that "standardised" funding offers would be made to community groups approaching his office for cash to help them stage cultural and religious events.